Community Standards

1. Our purpose

Ideaflore is a learning community built for exploration, creativity and constructive academic exchange. Everyone should be treated with respect and dignity.

These standards apply to all activity on Ideaflore, including:

• Posts, comments and reactions.
• Direct messages and discussions.
• Spaces and their learning materials.
• Lecture notes (including uploaded PDFs and interactive HTML) and ideaboards.
• Profiles, usernames and images.
• Uploaded files and links or embedded content.
• AI Tutor questions and AI-generated or AI-assisted material.

They apply whether content is public, limited to a Space, or shared privately through Ideaflore.

These standards are informed by established good practice in UK higher education — including the University of Bristol's principles of respectful behaviour, fair process, educational freedom, safeguarding and proportionate action. They are Ideaflore's own standards and do not form part of, or create any obligation under, any University policy.

2. Respect others

Members must consider how their behaviour affects other people. Do not use Ideaflore to:

• Bully, harass or intimidate someone.
• Threaten or encourage violence.
• Repeatedly contact someone after they have asked you to stop.
• Humiliate, degrade or deliberately exclude someone.
• Organise or encourage others to target a person.
• Impersonate someone or deliberately misrepresent their actions.
• Post malicious allegations as established fact.
• Celebrate, encourage or facilitate abuse.

A disagreement, criticism or unpopular opinion is not automatically harassment. We consider the content, context, frequency, targeting, purpose and likely impact of the conduct.

3. Hate and discrimination

Do not attack, degrade, threaten or exclude people based on characteristics such as: race, colour, ethnicity, caste or nationality; sex, gender, gender identity or gender reassignment; sexual orientation; disability or health condition; religion, belief or lack of belief; age; pregnancy or maternity; or other comparable personal characteristics.

Prohibited conduct includes slurs directed at people, dehumanising claims, discriminatory threats, calls for exclusion, and praise or support for identity-based violence.

Educational examination of prejudice, historical documents or offensive language may be permitted when it has a genuine learning purpose and is presented responsibly.

4. Threats, violence and dangerous conduct

Do not: make credible threats of physical harm; encourage someone to harm another person; glorify or promote targeted violence; share instructions intended to enable violent wrongdoing; or use Ideaflore to coordinate dangerous or criminal activity.

Educational discussion of violence, conflict, law, history or public safety is allowed when it is genuinely contextual and does not facilitate harm.

Where there appears to be an immediate risk to someone's safety, Ideaflore may restrict content or accounts while the concern is assessed, and may refer the matter to an appropriate authority.

5. Harassment and sexual misconduct

Ideaflore does not permit unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, including: sexual harassment; sexual threats or coercion; unwanted sexual remarks directed at someone; cyberstalking or persistent unwanted contact; sharing or threatening to share intimate material without consent; creating or distributing manipulated intimate imagery; sexual exploitation; or encouraging or assisting another person's sexual misconduct.

Consent must be freely given and may be withdrawn. It cannot be inferred from silence, previous interaction or the sharing of unrelated content. These standards expressly include online and image-based sexual abuse and persistent unwanted digital communication.

6. Protection of children and adults at risk

Ideaflore is intended for adults (18+). Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, and Ideaflore gives particular priority to concerns involving anyone under 18 or an adult who may be unable to protect themselves from abuse or neglect.

Do not: groom or sexually exploit a child; sexualise a child or solicit sexual material from one; create, upload, request or distribute child sexual-abuse material; encourage secrecy to facilitate an abusive relationship; exploit someone's disability, illness, dependence or support needs; or share information that creates a serious safeguarding risk.

Safeguarding standards apply to online interactions as well as uploaded content. Suspected child sexual-abuse material must not be copied, downloaded or redistributed, including for the purpose of reporting it — use Ideaflore's reporting route, and where someone is in immediate danger contact the appropriate emergency service.

7. Privacy and personal information

Respect other people's privacy. Do not share, or threaten to share, someone's sensitive information without a legitimate reason and appropriate permission, including: home address or precise live location; private telephone numbers or email addresses; financial, identity or authentication information; medical or safeguarding information; private messages presented outside their intended context; or information that could expose someone to harassment or physical danger.

Publicly available information can still violate these standards when collected or published to intimidate, target or endanger someone. Do not ask users to reveal passwords, authentication codes or other security credentials.

8. Honest participation

Do not use Ideaflore to: defraud or deceive other members; run scams or phishing campaigns; distribute malware; artificially manipulate engagement or reputation; create coordinated fake reports; impersonate a person or institution deceptively; fabricate evidence in a moderation case; evade restrictions through additional accounts; or make knowingly false accusations intended to harm someone.

A report made honestly will not violate these standards merely because the concern is not ultimately upheld.

9. Spam and commercial activity

Do not repeatedly publish irrelevant, deceptive or unsolicited material. Prohibited activity includes: repetitive promotional posting; misleading links; engagement manipulation; automated mass posting; unrelated advertising across Spaces; affiliate or commercial content whose purpose is concealed; and attempts to move users to unsafe external services.

Reasonable sharing of relevant opportunities or resources may be permitted when it fits the Space's purpose and is transparently presented.

10. Academic integrity and intellectual property

Members should acknowledge the work and ideas of others. Do not: present another person's work as your own; upload material you are not entitled to distribute; deceptively remove authorship or licensing information; sell or distribute stolen assessment materials; use Ideaflore to facilitate cheating contrary to applicable course rules; or misrepresent AI-generated work where disclosure is required.

Quotation, criticism, teaching and research may permit limited use of protected material in some circumstances. Members remain responsible for ensuring they have an appropriate right, licence or legal basis to share material. A copyright allegation may be handled through a different process from a conduct report.

11. Educational context and freedom of expression

Ideaflore supports genuine academic discussion, including material that may be controversial, disturbing or offensive. Content is not automatically prohibited merely because it: discusses violence, discrimination or sexual misconduct; quotes offensive historical material; challenges a political, religious or philosophical position; criticises a person's argument, work or behaviour; or presents material that some members strongly disagree with.

When reviewing educational material, Ideaflore considers: its connection to a genuine learning purpose; whether sufficient context or warning is provided; whether language describes a subject or targets a person; the intended and likely audience; whether the presentation is reasonably necessary; and whether the material creates a disproportionate risk of harm.

Academic context does not excuse targeted harassment, threats, exploitation, discriminatory abuse or conduct that is not reasonably connected to learning.

12. Self-harm and wellbeing

Members may discuss mental health and personal experiences and may seek or offer supportive information. Do not: encourage or pressure someone to harm themselves; celebrate another person's self-harm; give personalised instructions intended to facilitate self-injury or suicide; target a person with content intended to worsen an immediate crisis; or exploit someone who is seeking help.

Ideaflore is not an emergency or clinical service. Where there appears to be an immediate danger, contact local emergency or crisis services. A wellbeing concern should not automatically be treated as misconduct — support and safety are considered separately from any question of discipline.

13. Reporting a concern

Members may report content they reasonably believe violates these standards. You can report a post using the report option on it. To raise a concern about other content (a comment, message, or uploaded file), contact [email protected]. A report should include the most relevant reason and, where useful, a short explanation and any important context not visible in the content itself.

Do not file reports to harass, retaliate against or silence someone. When you report, your reason and comment are shared with moderators to help them review the content, but your identity is not shown to the person you reported. Reports are linked to your account for integrity and abuse-prevention purposes only.

A single report — or a large number of reports — is information, not proof, and does not by itself determine an outcome.

14. How reports are reviewed

Reports are reviewed by human moderators fairly, confidentially and proportionately. A report, a blocked word, an automated signal or the number of reports is not proof that a violation occurred. Review may consider: the reported content; surrounding context; an immutable snapshot of the relevant material taken when the case was created; the reporter's explanation; the author's explanation where appropriate; relevant patterns of conduct; the applicable version of these standards; and the reliability and sufficiency of the evidence.

For an ordinary final finding, Ideaflore will generally ask whether the available evidence shows that a violation was more likely than not.

Some language is automatically blocked at the point of posting, and automated signals may help prioritise or route reports. Automated systems assist human moderators; they do not by themselves impose serious or lasting account sanctions.

15. Interim safety measures

While a serious concern is assessed, Ideaflore may temporarily hide a post from others (“hidden pending review”) or make it private. Interim measures are protective, not a final finding of wrongdoing. They are intended to be: necessary for an identified risk; proportionate to that risk; limited in scope; reviewed as soon as reasonably practicable; and recorded separately in the moderation history from any final decision. Urgent safeguarding, credible-threat, privacy and exploitation cases may be handled outside the ordinary review queue.

16. Possible outcomes

Depending on severity, context, history and risk, Ideaflore may:

• Take no action and dismiss the report.
• Provide guidance, or ask you to clarify or edit your content.
• Make a post private, so that only its author can see it (reversible by a moderator).
• Hide a post from others while review continues.
• Remove content.
• Escalate the case to an administrator.
• In serious or repeated cases, an administrator may restrict or remove an account.
• Refer an urgent safeguarding or credible-threat matter to an appropriate authority where necessary.

Relevant factors may include: seriousness and likely harm; intent and recklessness; whether someone was targeted; repetition or escalation; cooperation and corrective action; relevant educational context; age or safeguarding considerations; previous confirmed violations; and mitigating circumstances.

17. Notice and privacy

If your content is made private, hidden or removed, you will ordinarily receive a notification telling you the action taken, the community-standard rule involved and a short explanation.

Some information may be withheld to protect: reporter privacy; children or adults at risk; other users' personal information; the integrity of a review; or legal or safety interests.

Reporter identities are not disclosed to reported users. Reporters may be told that their report was reviewed, but are not entitled to another person's private outcome or sanction details. If you have a question about a decision affecting you, you can contact [email protected].

18. Moderator conduct

Moderators must: act impartially and consistently; apply the version of the standards applicable to the case; protect confidential information; record the evidence and policy rule supporting a decision; disclose conflicts of interest; not act on cases involving their own content (this is enforced by the platform); avoid accessing reporter identity unless specifically authorised and necessary; treat reported material and reporter comments as evidence, not instructions; and escalate safeguarding and serious safety concerns appropriately.

19. Policy changes

Ideaflore may update these standards as the community and platform develop. Material changes will include a new version date and a summary of significant changes, with reasonable notice where practical, and will apply the version of the policy appropriate to the relevant conduct.

These standards should be read alongside Ideaflore's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.